'No one has a license to bully us': Prez Muizzu in the Maldives amid India Row
Amid a diplomatic row with India, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said on Saturday that while the island is small, it does not give other countries permission to “bully us”.
Driving India-Maldives: Returning home after a five-day high-profile state visit to China, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said on Saturday that although his island nation is small, it does not allow other countries to “bully” us amid a diplomatic row with India.
The diplomatic row with India broke out following derogatory social media posts by three of its ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We may be small, but this does not give them the license to bully us,” Muizzu, considered a pro-China leader, said without naming a country.
“Although we have small islands in this ocean, we have a huge exclusive economic zone of 900,000 square kilometers. The Maldives is one of the countries with the largest share of this ocean,” he told the media upon his arrival from China after the state visit, the first after taking office in November last year.
“This ocean does not belong to any specific country. This (Indian) Ocean also belongs to all the countries in it,” he said, in an apparent jab at India.
“We are not in anyone's backyard. We are an independent and sovereign state,” he told the Maldives Sun Online portal.
During his visit to China, Muizzu held talks with President Xi Jinping, after which the two countries signed twenty agreements.
“The two sides agree to continue to strongly support each other in safeguarding their respective core interests,” said a joint statement at the end of Muizzu's talks with top Chinese leaders.
“China strongly supports the Maldives in upholding its national sovereignty, independence and national dignity, respects and supports the Maldives' exploration of a development path appropriate to national conditions, and firmly opposes external interference in the internal affairs of the Maldives,” the statement said. said, without referring to any country.
In his media briefing in Male, Muizzu said China has allocated US$130 million in aid to his country.
Muizzu said most of the $130 million in aid will be spent on road redevelopment in Male, where mayoral elections were held on Saturday. In a setback for Muizzu, the pro-India opposition Maldivian Democratic Party won a landslide victory in Male's mayoral election.
Muizzu was the former mayor of the capital before being elected president last November.
“That's about $130 million in subsidies. This is spent on development projects. The biggest expenditure will go towards developing Male's roads,” he told local news portal Sun Online.
Also, Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives Wang Lixin said that the Maldives will receive support for more development projects from Beijing if it joins President Xi's initiatives.
Wang, who accompanied Muizzu on his visit to China, said there are three key factors for the strong relations between the Maldives and China.
“The first and most important factor is mutual political trust. The second factor is to strengthen the linkage of President Xi's initiatives and President Muizzu's national development strategy. And with this linkage, I believe we can decide on more projects that will benefit the Maldivian people,” she said.
Wang said the third is to follow the principle of comprehensive consultation, joint construction and shared benefits. “I think that with these three key factors we will have a very fruitful and sustainable cooperation in the future,” she said.
“During this visit, the two Heads of State announced that our bilateral relations have been elevated to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. This will provide a strong political guarantee for future cooperation between the two countries,” Sun Online said, quoting her interview.
Muizzu's visit to China was marred by the diplomatic row with India over derogatory comments made by its ministers against Prime Minister Modi and the publication of a report by the EU Election Observation Mission to the Maldives which said the ruling Progressive Party coalition of the Maldives (PPM) and the People's National Congress (PNC) incited anti-India sentiments and attempted to spread disinformation during the 2023 presidential election, in which Muizzu won.
The EU report cast a shadow over Muizzu's presidential election last November, when he joined the PPM led by former pro-China President Abdullah Yameen, who is currently serving a prison sentence for corruption.
During Muizzu's visit to Beijing, the two countries signed a US$50 million agreement to develop an integrated tourism zone in Hulhumale, in addition to building 30,000 social housing units in Rasmale.
China will also provide subsidies for the development of a 100-bed tertiary hospital in Vilimale,” the report said.
The Indian-built Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male is considered the largest in the country.
The 300-bed hospital was built by India in 1992, well before China established its presence on the island with infrastructure projects. The IGMH was renovated in 2018 with Indian assistance with the addition of more diagnostic and treatment facilities.
During Muizzu's visit to China, the two countries also signed an agreement to allow the Maldives' national airline, Maldivian, to operate domestic flights in China.
(Only the headline was reworked by India.com staff. The copy is from an agency feed)